Health differentials between citizens and immigrants in Europe: A heterogeneous convergence

Bousmah, Marwân-al-Qays; Combes, Simon Jean-Baptiste; Abu‐Zaineh, Mohammad

doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.12.005

Cited by 19 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…The reported health advantage of the immigrants, however, does not usually persist over time. Several studies, for instance, indicate that the immigrants living for several years in the host country have worse health than the newly arrived immigrants or the native population, implying an erosion of immigrant health over time and across generations 20 25–28 34…”

Section: Immigration ‘Othering’ and Health Inequalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

International migration and health: it is time to go beyond conventional theoretical frameworks

Hossin

2020

BMJ Glob Health

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The large-scale international migration in the 21st century has emerged as a major threat to the global health equity movement. Not only has the volume of migration substantially increased but also the patterns of migration have become more complex. This paper began by focusing on the drivers of international migration and how health inequalities are linked to migration. Situating migration within the broader structural contexts, the paper calls for using the unharnessed potential of the intersectionality framework to advance immigrant health research. Despite coming from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds and facing disparities in the host society, the immigrants are often paradoxically shown to be healthier than the native population, although this health advantage diminishes over time. Studies on immigrant health, however, are traditionally informed by the acculturation framework which holds the assimilation of unhealthy lifestyles primarily responsible for immigrant health deterioration, diverting the attention away from the structural factors. Although the alternative structural framework came up with the promise to explore the structural factors, it is criticised for an overwhelming focus on access to healthcare and inadequate attention to institutional and societal contexts. However, the heterogeneity of the immigrant population across multiple dimensions of vulnerability demands a novel approach that can bring to the fore both premigratory and postmigratory contextual factors and adequately capture the picture of immigrant health. The paper concludes by questioning the acculturation perspective and pushing the structural paradigm to embrace the intersectionality framework which has the potential to address a wide range of vulnerabilities that intersect to produce health inequalities among the immigrants.

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Section: Immigration ‘Othering’ and Health Inequalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

International migration and health: it is time to go beyond conventional theoretical frameworks

Hossin

2020

BMJ Glob Health

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“…Research has shown that there is a convergence of health states of migrants to the natives' that differ by wealth of the country [13]. Migrants coming from a country in an earlier phase of the health transition to a society in a more advanced phase experience a positive effect on their health [3].…”

Section: Health: Length Of Stay Versus Wealth Of Country Of Originmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inconsistent evidence shows that migrants can be either in better or worse health than the population of their host country [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Many factors can contribute to these inconsistent results, such as the host country itself (migrants in North America and southern Europe are in better health than migrants in northern Europe [12]), migrants' social integration in the host country (migrants living in host countries where they are more easily integrated tend to be in better health [7]), or their length of residence (migrants' health worsens over time [4,13]). On average, migrants tend to live in worse conditions than their host populations [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, in light of the differences in migrants' health according to their country of origin, some authors have argued that migration from a society in an earlier phase of the health transition to a society in a more advanced phase has a positive effect on migrants' health [3]. A recent article also showed that the convergence of health of migrants differs by wealth of the country of origin [13], and another article showed that health differences are partly explained by the relative educational attainment in the country of origin [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We hypothesize that the effect of length of stay on the health of migrants differ by the wealth of the country of origin. Following the literature on the healthy migrant effects, we expect health to worsen with time but at different rates for migrants coming from a poorer or wealthier country [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Self-Perceived Health among Migrants Seen in Médecins du Monde Free Clinics in Europe: Impact of Length of Stay and Wealth of Country of Origin on Migrants’ Health

Combes

Simonnot

Azzedine

et al. 2019

IJERPH

Self Cite

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Health of migrants is a widely studied topic. It has been argued that migrant health may deteriorate over time. Though migrants are a “hard to reach” population in survey data, this paper builds on a unique dataset provided by Médecins du Monde from five countries. We study self-perceived health (SPH) in connection with socio-economic and demographic factors and length of stay. Results differ for men and women. Compared to other documented migrants, asylum seekers have a 50–70% greater chance of having worse health. Migrants with better living conditions have a 57–78% chance of being in better health. Male migrants with a job have between a 82–116% chance of being in good health. The probability for women from poorer countries to have a better physical SPH after three months of residing in the host country is six-fold that of women from richer countries. This paper contributes widely to the knowledge of health of migrants. Contrary to other evidence, health of women migrants from poorer countries tends to improve with length of stay.

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Women bear a burden: gender differences in health of older migrants from Turkey

et al. 2021

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Studies show that older migrants have poorer health than native populations in Western Europe. To date, little systematic research has explored the differences between men and women within older populations with migration backgrounds. This article examines gender-specific aspects and mediating mechanisms of self-reported health among older migrants from Turkey. Using a mixed method approach, data and results from a quantitative survey and a qualitative study conducted in Berlin, Germany, are analysed and integrated at the interpretive level. Standardised face-to-face interviews were carried out with the help of a network approach with 194 older migrants from Turkey (93 women, 101 men, mean age: 68). Potential mediators showing significant gender differences are included in a parallel multiple mediation analysis. The documentary method is used to analyse 11 semi-structured narrative interviews with first-generation labour migrants from Turkey. Women reported significantly worse subjective health than men (c = 0.443, bCI [0.165–0.736]), conveyed through greater functional limitations (ab = 0.183, bCI [0.056–0.321]) and emotional loneliness (ab = 0.057, bCI [0.008–0.128]). Respondents to the qualitative study perceived that women age earlier and have poorer health due to the burden of performing a greater variety of social roles. Higher levels of emotional loneliness among women could be caused by their experiences of negatively assessed partnerships. Our results show that as a group, older female migrants have an elevated health vulnerability. A broader scientific foundation regarding gender differences in the health of older migrants and their causes is needed to promote gender-sensitive prevention and care for this group.

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Health differentials between citizens and immigrants in Europe: A heterogeneous convergence

Cited by 19 publications

References 41 publications

International migration and health: it is time to go beyond conventional theoretical frameworks

International migration and health: it is time to go beyond conventional theoretical frameworks

Self-Perceived Health among Migrants Seen in Médecins du Monde Free Clinics in Europe: Impact of Length of Stay and Wealth of Country of Origin on Migrants’ Health

Women bear a burden: gender differences in health of older migrants from Turkey

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